More textbooks to be translated into Tibetan

This year, more bilingual Mandarin-Tibetan legal texts, especially those related to trade and finance, will be compiled and provided for local judges in a bid to meet growing demand and tackle a rise in related cases, according to officials from the High People's Court of the Tibet autonomous region.

In recent years, the rapid development of the regional economy has seen a rise in the number of commercial disputes. "That means our judges must improve their ability to hear such cases in Mandarin and Tibetan, and strengthen the quality of hearings and written verdicts," said Yang Zhilong, deputy director of the court's language office.

The process is lengthy, though, because each book takes 10 translators at least six months to compile, and then the regional ethnic affairs authority has to review the finished work. "However, it's worth it," Yang said.

Basang Gyalpo, director of the language office, said that over the past five years, the court has edited and published three bilingual books to guide judges in legal matters and in writing bilingual rulings.

A number of judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People's Court, China's top legal chamber, have also been translated into Tibetan, including some related to hearings involving State compensation and administrative disputes, to ensure the judges will fully understand the interpretations and can use them effectively in practice, he said.

"Some of our translators come from universities, while others are senior bilingual ethnic judges. More than 10 of them have experience of working in our region," he added.

Nyima Tenzin, who works at a grassroots court in Tibet, is one of the translators.

He said that most of the time a law book or reference text in Mandarin is divided into several sections in accordance with the number of translators, and each translator will be given about one month to translate their part.

He regards the work as a huge challenge. "Sometimes it's too difficult to identify the most accurate Tibetan word, so we have monthly discussions to remove uncertain translations," he said.

"If some definitions are still uncertain, or translated terms remain controversial after the discussion, we submit them to linguists at the regional ethnic affairs authority or ask academics at ethnic universities for help."

His colleague, Basang Wangdu, said ensuring accuracy in translation is essential, despite the extra time and energy required, and the texts must be easy to read and comprehend.

"After all, we serve the judges, which helps to further promote the rule of law," he said.

(China Daily Global 05/08/2019 page5)